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3 Jun 2015

My Brighton Fringe Diary #25 The final show and end of the fringe #MyBrightonFringe2015 #MadeinCumbriashow #spiritjunkie

I can't believe it's over. It seems like yesterday I was at the Brighton Fringe brochure launch party getting butterflies in my stomach seeing my show advertised in print. Then putting up my poster illegally (see pic above) made me all teary eyed. I remember wondering if I could actually pull it off. Could I actually do my own solo show?

The answer is yes. Yes, I could do my own solo show. Over seven months of hard work, making sacrifices and working in every spare hour I had. It all paid off. I also used mindfulness and meditation to keep me calm. I used techniques to visualise how I wanted my show to be, what it would feel like and I imagined the room in the Quadrant pub full to the brim of people. It all became true as I did fill the room with people and even had to turn people away as we couldn't fit everyone in.

My intentions were:

To give the audience a good time and have fun

To be brave and push myself as a peformer

I wanted to have fun performing and enjoy myself

I wanted people to want more at the end of the show and not want it to end

To get at least one good review

For people want to see the show again

For people to say it was different, dark, funny and original

From reading my tweets, hearing people's feedback and getting a great review I have ticked off my intentions and goals. That is a really good feeling.

In my final show I was much more free and had more fun to push myself. I went off script in some parts and played with the audience a lot more. I know that in just four shows the performance developed and evolved each time a bit better. I can't wait to work on it more to take it to Edinburgh next year.

I made sure that my Brighton Fringe was full of 'give and take' so I went to see as many shows I could handle. It was great seeing friends who have also been grafting over writing performing their own shows. I was so proud and the quality of work was so high. I think I counted 16 shows in all. I also took part in four shows during the Brighton Fringe doing one or two of my characters and one of these was my own show, Made in Cumbria.

The shows I performed in were:

Lamb Comedy - Lamb Chops

Funny Women Award Heats at the Komedia

Le Cluck at the Warren Main Space

Made in Cumbria - my one hour solo show

The shows I went to see in no particular order were:

Pigs in Gin with Roz Ryan and Graeme Collard

Colin Hoult show

Dan Fardell: At least 100 jokes

Anna Morris: It's got to be perfect

Looking out for Linda - Comedian Sam Savage's solo show

Mixed Doubles

Sean Mcloughlin: Breaking point

Louise Reay - It's only words

Sticky Digits - An audience with Pamela DeMenthe

Kitten Killers

Dance for Me

Beard

The Jest

Sklent - John Tansey & Fraser Geesin

Jo Neary and Holly Burn

Marwoods cafe gig

It felt so good to be part of the Brighton Fringe this year and make new memories and achieve goals. I have even made new friends and contacts.

I made plans for 'post-Brighton Fringe' weeks ago so I could be ready for the 'come down'. I am soon off to Spain for a week to sit on a beach and really think about what I have achieved. I am planning to carry on writing for my characters and I have already got ideas for some new ones. I am going to take my show to Edinburgh next year for the 2016 festival. I have started saving money and selling off things to pay for it. I have also been researching fringe festivals across the UK and abroad. I am feeling adventurous!

In the meantime, I am aiming to write and record some radio plays. I am also planning on filming some more videos. I would also like to start a podcast. There are lots of lovely creative things on my list.

Now I want to get a bit 'speecy'. I would like to say a HUGE THANK YOU to my friends and family who supported me leading up to and during the Brighton Fringe. I appreciate it so much. Thank you to
everyone who traveled from miles away, booked baby sitters or just took
the time to come to see my show. Some of you even came to watch twice. I would like to give special thanks to my great friend, Alex Winter who was 100% reliable as my tech and friend. I really am thankful to have someone who had my back and I could rely on. I would also like to thank my bestfriends Becki and Nicola who offered help in the run up and during the festival. Becki your input was so valuable and I hope you have been inspired to write more for yourself. I would also like to thank Rob Dumbrell who has been a great friend, mentor and took photos/videos of my show, plus watched it three times!! Poor guy. I love all of you. You are the best!

Here are some of the pics that people took for me.

I actually feel a bit emotional writing this blog post. I just can't believe it's all over. I miss the Brighton Fringe already. I can't wait for next year. I thought I might cry at my last show, but I didn't. I think I might let myself have a cry when I am safely on a beach in Spain. I will be crying tears of joy and realisation of how much I have achieved over the last 7 months. It hasn't been easy or always smooth sailing, but I got there. I can't wait to make my next list of goals and get working hard on the next bit of this comedy journey. Thanks for reading my blog and following my adventures. I will keep blogging and recording how I honestly feel. There will be more very soon. Thank you for reading and thank you for supporting my show.